Chapter 242: You Used a Dirty Trick!
Dobato leaped forward once again, slashing at Wang Bin. Wang Bin kept retreating, and all the personal guards in front of him had already fallen.
His eyes were locked onto the incoming curved blade, and at that moment, only one thought filled his mind.
Yang, my brother, hurry up! If you don't, I'm dead!
At that instant, a sharp whistling sound split the air.
Dobato, who was just about to decapitate Wang Bin, caught a flicker of alarm in his eyes. Without hesitation, he abandoned the nearly secured kill, twisting his body mid-air to narrowly evade the incoming short spear!
“Dobato!”
The next moment, Yang Zhengshan charged in, riding like a storm.
Hongyun leaped high into the air, soaring several feet before landing gracefully. Yang Zhengshan descended like a divine warrior, appearing right in front of Wang Bin, who was so moved he almost burst into tears.
Unfortunately, Yang Zhengshan had no time to notice Wang Bin’s emotions. Before Hongyun even landed, his spear was already thrusting toward Dobato.
Thunderous echoes rang through the battlefield as the spear gleamed like a rainbow streaking forward.
Dobato barely managed to deflect the spear with his curved blade, using the momentum to propel himself several feet backward.
One had to admit, Dobato’s combat experience was truly formidable. Even in such perilous circumstances, he managed to retreat unscathed.
As Hongyun touched the ground, Yang Zhengshan gripped his spear tightly, his gaze unwaveringly fixed on Dobato.
“General, are you alright?”
“Cough, cough… Still alive, just barely!” Wang Bin slumped to the ground, his face pale as he coughed lightly.
The battle around them continued, and the reinforcements seemed to be struggling to hold their ground.
“Why are you the only one here?” Wang Bin asked.
“The others are still behind!” Yang Zhengshan’s focus remained on Dobato.
At this moment, Dobato had steadied himself as well. His eyes gleamed with icy malice as he locked onto Yang Zhengshan.
“It really is you!”
Yang Zhengshan dismounted from Hongyun, pointing his spear directly at Dobato. “Enough talk. Today, only one of us walks away alive!”
Last time, he hadn't been confident in taking down Dobato. This time, he still wasn’t.
But at this point, confidence didn’t matter. Whether or not he had the upper hand, he had to fight.
Dobato’s eyes narrowed into slits. He slowly raised his curved blade, holding it in front of his chest.
In the next instant, both men moved simultaneously.
The spear danced like lightning, its sharp whistle cutting through the air.
The curved blade sliced through the battlefield like a phantom, swift and unpredictable.
Their figures wove and clashed repeatedly, steel meeting steel in rapid succession.
Within a dozen feet of them, whether they were Hu raiders or reinforcements, all retreated instinctively.
This battle was beyond the scope of ordinary soldiers. They could do nothing but avoid being caught in the crossfire.
Supported by his soldiers, Wang Bin pulled himself to his feet. He no longer paid attention to Yang Zhengshan’s fight with Dobato—he knew he could do nothing to help.
After a quick glance at their duel, he immediately refocused on commanding his troops.
The reinforcements had fallen into a disadvantage, completely surrounded by the enemy.
At this moment, his priority was to organize the defense and hold out until the Anyuan Prefecture Garrison arrived.
Fortunately, Han Cheng and the others arrived swiftly. Before Yang Zhengshan and Dobato could determine a victor, Han Cheng, Song Dashan, and Yang Mingzhen had already led the garrison forces onto the battlefield.
“Kill!”
A thunderous roar accompanied the chaotic thunder of hooves. Song Dashan led two hundred armored cavalry at the forefront of the charge.
The transformation from armored infantry to armored cavalry had made them even more fearsome.
Though two hundred cavalry wasn’t a large force, their charge was enough to strike terror into the enemy.
Like an unstoppable tidal wave, they smashed into the Hu raiders surrounding the reinforcements, breaking their formation apart.
“Charge!!”
Song Dashan’s voice thundered over the battlefield.
He had learned well from Yang Zhengshan—what was the primary function of cavalry?
Yang Zhengshan’s answer had always been simple: charge.
If conditions allowed, charge.
If conditions didn’t allow, create conditions and charge anyway.
Advance without hesitation—no retreat, no surrender!
With the Anyuan Prefecture Garrison joining the fray, another force also arrived—Zhang Chengzhi and Zhang Yuanwu, leading the reinforcements.
After lighting their signal beacon, they had rushed over as quickly as possible. However, traveling on foot had slowed them down slightly, causing them to arrive later than the mounted garrison.
“Kill!”
“Kill!”
Zhang Chengzhi and Zhang Yuanwu saw the battlefield in utter chaos but didn’t hesitate for a moment. They immediately led their men into the fight.
Though they hadn’t spotted the Anyuan Prefecture Garrison yet, it didn’t matter—they had come to fight.
With reinforcements pouring in from both sides, the tide of battle finally began to shift in favor of the garrison forces.
The carnage continued. The two sides clashed violently, their lines completely entangled.
The fire still raged, billowing smoke obscuring the night sky and moon. Screams of agony and war cries mingled, while blood gushed forth in fountains, pooling into rivers across the ground. Severed limbs and fallen corpses littered the battlefield.
As time passed, the garrison soldiers were forced to dismount and fight on foot, having lost the conditions necessary for further cavalry charges. Now, they had no choice but to battle the enemy in brutal close combat.
Meanwhile, Yang Zhengshan’s duel with Dobato grew even fiercer.
Their skills were evenly matched, and neither had gained the upper hand after two full quarter-hours of combat.
“Huff… Huff… Huff…”
Dobato panted heavily, exhaustion creeping in. The prolonged fight had taken its toll.
Yang Zhengshan was breathing hard as well, but in terms of endurance, he had a clear advantage over Dobato.
Their weapons clashed once more—spear against blade.
Yang Zhengshan’s Gilded Flying Fish Spear had already begun to bend out of shape.
This weapon, forged from refined iron, was not a divine artifact, but in Dazhong, it was considered a rare, high-quality weapon.
It had been with him for over five years. He never expected it to break today.
Even though the spear was warped, Yang Zhengshan’s attacks remained as fierce as ever.
Dobato’s curved blade wasn’t in much better condition. The once-pristine edge was now chipped and serrated like a saw.
Yang Zhengshan noticed Dobato’s heavy breathing, and a glint of cold determination flashed in his eyes.
Now’s the time.
Suddenly, he let go of his spear with his left hand, swinging it one-handed toward Dobato.
Instinctively, Dobato raised his blade to block.
Clang!
The spear felt surprisingly light as it was deflected—almost as if it were slipping from Yang Zhengshan’s grasp.
Dobato’s mind raced. What’s going on? Has he run out of strength?
After hundreds of exchanges, he had gauged Yang Zhengshan’s strength well. That last strike had been far weaker than before.
Had Yang Zhengshan exhausted himself?
Of course not!
Just as Dobato deflected the spear, Yang Zhengshan’s left hand flipped, and a short sword appeared in his grip as if out of thin air.
In the next instant, the short sword shot forward like an arrow released from a bow.
Puff!
Caught completely off guard, Dobato was struck directly by the short sword.
The five-inch-long blade embedded itself deep into his chest.
For a brief moment, Dobato was stunned. However, he quickly reacted, his gaze filled with disbelief as he stared at Yang Zhengshan.
“You used a dirty trick!”
His voice carried both shock and fury.
But his answer came in the form of a spear thrust.
Yang Zhengshan spun his body with his spear, completing a full turn before thrusting again, this time piercing straight through Dobato’s chest.
Puff!
Two devastating wounds—especially the final spear thrust, which completely impaled Dobato’s body.
Blood gushed from his mouth, and his expression turned ashen in an instant.
A dirty trick?
Was he accusing Yang Zhengshan of lacking martial integrity?
Yang Zhengshan looked at Dobato with an expression of calm indifference.
What honor exists in a battle of life and death?
He had been deliberately stalling, forcing Dobato to grow accustomed to his attack patterns, his fighting style—just so he could strike at the perfect moment, taking him by surprise with a single fatal blow.
Had he used this move from the start, Dobato would have likely dodged it. And once he was wary of hidden weapons, the chances of landing such a strike again would have been close to zero.
“Apologies.”
Yang Zhengshan spoke softly, then pulled back his bent spear.
Fighting without honor was, perhaps, distasteful. He didn't particularly care for such notions, but there was no harm in offering an apology to a dead man.
As the spear was withdrawn, blood gushed like a fountain, splattering onto Yang Zhengshan’s armor. Dobato’s body slowly collapsed to the ground, his lifeless eyes staring at the smoke-filled sky.
Yang Zhengshan stepped forward, picked up a long blade, and with a swift motion, severed Dobato’s head.
“Hongyun!”
Neighhh!
Hongyun galloped over from behind a nearby tent. Yang Zhengshan swung himself onto the saddle and raised Dobato’s severed head high.
“The enemy chieftain is dead!”
“The enemy chieftain is dead!”
“The enemy chieftain is dead!”
The soldiers engaged in the bloody melee suddenly erupted in a roar of triumph.
The battle cry spread like wildfire across the battlefield.
The warriors of the Anyuan Prefecture Garrison and the reinforcements felt their morale soar, while the Kolcha Clan's fighting spirit collapsed entirely.
A defeat often comes in an instant.
Within moments, the Kolcha warriors crumbled, their formation falling apart like a landslide.
Many of the Hu raiders lost their will to fight and began fleeing for their lives.
“Hahaha! Kill them!”
Wang Bin, still engaged in battle, couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
Though his injuries were serious, he was far from out of the fight.
He might not be able to take on elite warriors, but against ordinary soldiers, he could still hold his own with ease.
“Brothers, heads count for merit—kill them!”
Wang Bin roared, his voice as hoarse as a broken bell, rough and grating.
But at this moment, everyone sounded just as exhausted.
After such prolonged combat, their strength was already drained, and they were running purely on survival instincts. The suffocating smoke and searing flames had left their throats dry and voices ragged.
Despite the surge in morale, the soldiers were too exhausted to pursue the fleeing enemy. They could only watch as the remnants of the Kolcha Clan scattered in all directions.
The sounds of battle gradually subsided, and in the east, the sky began to brighten with the first pale light of dawn.
Thick smoke still billowed into the sky, but the flames had finally stopped spreading.
As daylight fully broke, Yang Zhengshan sat atop Hongyun, his entire body drenched in blood, surveying the devastated battlefield.
Corpses, rivers of blood, gray smoke, blackened ash—everywhere, the horrors of war were laid bare.
The battle was finally over.
“My lord!”
Han Cheng, his face blackened with soot, approached Yang Zhengshan.
Yang Zhengshan gave a slight nod. “What’s the situation?”
Han Cheng’s voice was hoarse as he reported, “Over three hundred casualties.”
“...”
Yang Zhengshan’s heart clenched, and he let out a long sigh.
Han Cheng was referring to the casualties of the Anyuan Prefecture Garrison—and these were only the severely wounded, those too injured to return to battle.
In other words, the garrison had lost over three hundred soldiers in a single battle.
Three hundred.
Before this, after breaking through eight enemy settlements, their total losses had barely exceeded thirty men.
Yet in this battle alone, they had lost over three hundred.
Yang Zhengshan felt his heart bleeding.
He had spent three years training and nurturing these warriors—yet in just one battle, he had lost nearly a third of them.
He clenched his fists but forced himself to refocus.
“How is General Wang?” Yang Zhengshan pushed aside his grief and asked.
“His wounds have been treated. He’s already fallen asleep. The military physician said he’ll be fine after a few days of rest.” Han Cheng replied.
Yang Zhengshan nodded. That was at least one piece of good news.
“Let’s go check on him.”
Saying this, Yang Zhengshan spurred Hongyun forward, heading south across the battlefield